A Picture Is Worth...

My friend Jamie blogged today about family beach photos.
In response, I offer a glimpse into how these pictures come into existence.

It’s approx 3pm on a beautiful Florida afternoon.
Picture a cute little family playing either on the beach or around the hotel pool when the wife says….
“Come on everybody. We’ve got to go get dressed for pictures.”
Husband: “Pictures? What pictures?”
Wife: “We’re having pictures made on the beach.”
Husband: “But I didn’t bring any nice clothes for pictures.”
Wife: “Yes, you did. I packed matching shirts and pants for everyone.”
Husband: Sighs, and roll his eyes “Come on kids. Let’s go get dressed.”

2 hrs later (It does not take the husband or kids nearly that long to get ready.) they arrive at a section of beach that is absent the hotels and condos that cover the rest of the beach. As the family exits their vehicle they see at least 50 other people in matching clothes trying to find the perfect spot for pictures. Apparently this time of day is “Perfect for pictures” so something in many mothers has caused them to bring their families to this section of beach. I’m not sure why theses pics are so important, but apparently there’s some Mother’s code that says you must have picture of your family at the beach and some seashells in your bathroom. I think Jeff Foxworthy said it best when he said “You won’t ever see a toilet on the beach, but you will see a beach on your toilet.”

When taking such pictures, if you listen closely you might hear any or all of these statements from the families:

Kid: “I hate sand, Do I have to take my shoes off?”
or
Dad: “Stop kicking sand on your brother!”
or
Kid: “Are we done yet? I’m tired of smiling.”
or
Mom: Almost in tears “Can’t we just be civilized for once. I just want a picture of my family on the beach. But you can’t even give me that. We can't have anything nice!”
Or
Dad: “Kids, the quicker we get this done the quicker we can go eat at Captain Anderson’s. So Stop Whining! And Smile, dang-it!”

One of the biggest problems with taking pictures involving children is trying to get them to smile at the same time.
We’ve learned that if you can get all the older kids in the picture to keep smiling, then hopefully you’ll be able to get just one shot of the littlest child smiling as well.
If all goes well, you get a picture like this.

But most of the time you’ve got one goofy person in the picture who can’t seem to keep it together and you end up with this…

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